Key Points —Colombia’s banana exports reached a record US$1.309 billion in 2025, up 21.6% from 2024, with 133 million 20-kilogram boxes shipped from 52,943 cultivated hectares. —The performance made Colombia the world’s fourth-largest banana exporter behind Ecuador, Guatemala and the Philippines, and the third-largest in Latin America — overtaking Costa Rica. —The European Union absorbed […]

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Key Points —Colombia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy will issue a resolution adding a national surcharge of 8 pesos per kilowatt-hour on upper-class households (strata 4, 5 and 6) and on commercial and industrial users. —The surcharge is designed to raise around 235 billion pesos (roughly US$66 million) in its first year and flow entirely […]

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Key Points —Bolivia’s long-distance bus transport is operating at just 20% capacity because of diesel shortages, and the national drivers’ confederation has declared a state of emergency with a possible indefinite strike on the table. —YPFB president Claudia Cronenbold resigned on April 22 after less than a month in office, warning the state oil company […]

The post Bolivia’s Soy, Corn and Sorghum Harvest Is Stuck Because the State Oil Company Can’t Buy Diesel appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —Interim president José María Balcázar swore in Carlos Pareja Ríos, a 75-year-old career diplomat and former ambassador to the United States, as Peru’s new foreign minister on the evening of April 23. —Hours before his appointment, Pareja publicly criticised Balcázar on Canal N, warning that the postponement of the F-16 contract had the […]

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Key Points —Peru’s foreign and defence ministers resigned on April 22 after accusing interim president José María Balcázar of lying to the country about whether the US$3.5 billion F-16 contract had been signed. —The first contract phase — twelve F-16 Block 70 aircraft worth US$1.54 billion — had already been signed at Base Aérea Las […]

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Key Points —John Barrett arrived in Caracas on April 23 as the new Chargé d’Affaires of the United States embassy, replacing Laura Dogu, who had led the mission since it reopened on March 30. —Barrett is tasked with implementing Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s three-phase plan: oil-supervised stabilization, economic recovery under Western investment, and a […]

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Key Points —Colombia’s labour ministry issued Decree 0415 on April 20 ordering private pension funds to transfer approximately 25 trillion Colombian pesos (about US$6 billion) to the state pension fund Colpensiones in 30 days. —The money belongs to roughly 119,000 savers who chose to switch from private to public pension management under a 2024 reform; […]

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